by NBC allowed comedians to start spreading the word, one month ahead of the premiere of season 9 of Last Comic Standing, that they’re appearing and competing among the Top 100 stand-ups selected for the “Invitationals” round of auditions — taped this spring before judges Roseanne Barr, Keenen Ivory Wayans and Norm Macdonald.
Can’t you just wait to see them experience this? REMIX!
So…Who’s in? Who’s out? Who’s still hiding out?
So far, the following comedians have revealed themselves as contestants (in alphabetical order!):
UPDATED with more names of people we saw onscreen during the Invitationals
- Nick Allen
- Sara Armour https://www.saraarmour.com/
- Tony Baker https://tonybaker.socxs.com/
Home - Ian Bagg https://ianbagg.com/
- Kevin Bozeman https://www.kevinbozeman.com/
- Lonnie Bruhn
- Rhea Butcher https://www.rheabutcher.com/
- Tony Camin https://twitter.com/tonycamin
- Jessi Campbell https://www.jessicampbell.com/
jessicampbell/Welcome.html - Melanie Comarcho
- Ryan Conner https://www.ryanconnercomedy.com/
- Alycia Cooper https://www.alyciacooper.com/
- Dan Crohn https://dancrohn.com/
- Kendra Cunningham https://www.kendracunningham.
com/ - Jan Davidson https://www.facebook.com/jandavidsoncomedian
- Tim Dillon https://twitter.com/timjdillon
- Dominique https://www.dominiquecomedi.com/
- Andy Erikson https://www.andyerikson.com/
- DC Ervin https://dcervin.com/
- Jackie Fabulous https://www.jackiefabulous.com/
- Chris Fairbanks
- Ricarlo Flanagan https://twitter.com/fatherflanagn
- Noah Gardenswartz https://www.noahgcomedy.com/
- Renee Gauthier https://reneecomedy.com/
- Amir Gollan https://twitter.com/agollan
- Harrison Greenbaum https://www.harrisongreenbaum.
com/ - Kyle Grooms
- Rob Haze https://robhaze.tumblr.com/
- Andy Hendrickson https://andyhendrickson.com/
- Jon Huck https://jonhuck.me/
- Cody Hustak https://www.codyhustak.com/
- Mia Jackson https://www.miajackson.com/
- Ambrose Jones III https://www.
comedianambrosejones.com/ - Natalie Jose https://www.nataliejosecomedy.
com/ - Amir K https://amircomedy.com/
- Sierra Katow https://www.sierrakatow.com/
- Bryan Kellen
- Mehran Khaghani https://themehran.com/
- K-Von
- Jason Lawhead https://jasonlawhead.com/
- Candy Lawrence https://comedylawrence.com/
- Mike Lebovitz
- Kevin Lee
- Joe List https://www.comedianjoelist.
com/ - Brad Loekle https://www.bradloekle.com/
- Kelly MacFarland https://kellymacfarland.com/
- Steve Macone https://www.stevemacone.com/
- Cyrus McQueen https://cyrusmcqueen.com/
- Amy Miller https://amymillercomedy.com/
- Emmett Montgomery https://www.
emmettmontgomery.com/ - Sam Morril https://www.sammorril.com/SamMorril/HOME.html
- Martin Morrow https://www.martinmorrowcomedy.
com/ - Sammy Obeid https://www.sammyko.com/
- Michael Palascak
- Ms. Pat https://www.mspatcomedy.com/
- Gene Pompa https://www.genepompacomedy.com/
- Esther Povitsky
- Priya Prasad https://twitter.com/pri4priya
- Crystian Ramirez https://twitter.com/
crystianramirez - Francisco Ramos https://www.franciscoeramos.
com/ - Shelagh Ratner https://twitter.com/shelaghratner
- Mark Schumacher https://markschumacher.com/
- Julie Scroggins
- Mike Siegel
- Andi Smith https://ishouldgooutmore.com/
- Shakir Standley https://twitter.com/
shaknotshaq - Junior Stopka https://juniorstopka.com/
- Moses Storm https://twitter.com/mosesstorm
- Amy Sumpter https://www.amysumpter.com/
- Caleb Synan https://calebsynan.tumblr.com/
- KT Tatara https://www.kttatara.com/
- Drew Thomas https://www.comediandrewthomas.
com/ - Taylor Tomlinson https://www.ttomcomedy.com/
- Angelo Tsarouchas
- David Tveite https://www.davidtveite.com/
- LaVar Walker
- Sheng Wang https://shengwangtime.com/
- Greg Warren https://www.gregwarrencomedy.
com/ - Jason Weems https://jasonweemscomedy.com/
- Kasuan Wilson
As you might have guessed or counted, that’s not all 100. Who are the others? Why haven’t they jumped in to tell everyone to watch them? What are they afraid of? That they’ll spill the beans on how they did? Or are they embarrassed by how they performed? Are they just lazy comedians? Do they need new representation? Don’t answer. Just reveal yourselves.
The Top 100 comedians at “Invitationals” competed for 40 semifinal slots, with the Top 10 moving forward to new head-to-head competitions. The Top 5 perform in the Finals, with the winner taking home $250,000 and a development deal.
And now, some videos to whet your appetite for the eight-episode season 9 of Last Comic, premiering July 22, 2015, on NBC.
First, a time-lapse of the stage construction:
And a word from judges Norm Macdonald and Keenan Ivory Wayans on “when they knew they were funny”:
tim Dillon confirmed in the top 100
How interesting that every single one of those comedians has their own website with a personalized domain name. Coincidence? Probably not. Makes me suspect that the Top 100 finalists were chosen not so much for their stage skills, but for how many “followers” they have, and how many social media “likes” they can get, to create buzz for the show, and higher ratings. Old-school comedians are left in the dust; they could have the funniest set ever, but if they’re not also a computer guru, marketer, salesperson, PR spinner, and online viral sensation – then good luck!
This quote pretty much says it all: “Why haven’t they jumped in to tell everyone to watch them? What are they afraid of? That they’ll spill the beans on how they did? Or are they embarrassed by how they performed? Are they just lazy comedians? Do they need new representation? Don’t answer. Just reveal yourselves.” = incredibly tech-biased, ignorant, and elitist. Like the thought of a comedian NOT having their own website and million “fans” on every social media channel is a completely foreign concept to Sean McCarthy. Get back to basics dude.
“Old-school comedians are left in the dust; they could have the funniest set ever, but if they’re not also a computer guru, marketer, salesperson, PR spinner, and online viral sensation – then good luck!”
Then those comedians should either hire someone to do that work for them or else get used to the fact that they’ll continue to be passed over for certain opportunities. And if you can’t afford to hire someone to do basic computer work like building a website then you’re probably in the wrong line of work because you obviously aren’t doing well enough to earn a stable income.
Whining and moaning that times are changing isn’t going to stop them from changing. No matter what industry you work in, it’s your responsibility to keep up with the times and continually educate yourself.
And for God’s sake, if you’re a professional comedian who doesn’t even have a website, I have zero sympathy for you. Zero. Buy a domain name for $13 and point it to a free Tumblr account. Just have SOMETHING that people can go to when they Google your name.
exactly!
Or maybe everyone had to sign 300 page agreements that said they cannot reveal themselves because they might be edited out, and these are the people who have been contacted.
Maybe. Shhhhhhhhhh. Secrets!
Check out https://hotbreathpod.blogspot.com/ for exclusive interviews with contestants like Rob Haze, Clayton English and Mia Jackson. A new episode is released every Monday!
Hear exclusive interviews with all 6 Atlanta Comics in the semi-finals and finals on Hot Breath! Podcast: https://audioboom.com/channel/hotbreathpodcast